‘Driving my Ferrari’: Dodgy watch seller flees to Thailand
A Sydney watch seller who vanished without a trace leaving dozens out of pocket has been spotted in Thailand.
A Sydney watch seller who went to ground after taking deposits for luxury watches has been found in Thailand, where he has been allegedly spending money on sugar babies in Pattaya.
Watches R Us owner Ian Tilman made headlines last year when his swanky showroom on Castlereagh St in Sydney’s CBD was suddenly shut down after selling Rolexes for hundreds of thousands of dollars before failing to deliver.
At the time, police thought he had fled to Dubai, however, news.com.au has been sent photos of Mr Tilman at the Somerset in Pattaya last week.
A woman, who wishes to stay anonymous, said Mr Tilman has been coming to Thailand “often” since September only returning to Sydney to see his parents.
The woman met Mr Tilman in a nightclub before staying with him “24/7”.
After learning about Mr Tilman’s conduct back in Australia, the woman confronted him, telling him that running away from his country was “not” a “joke”.
“Wtf man,” Mr Tilman replied to her.
“I am still here. Driving my Ferrari. Talk sh*t mate.”
She has since blocked Mr Tilman, who was spotted with a new woman last week.
Mr Tilman’s customers have been trying to recoup their money since he packed up his showroom in July last year, even setting up a WhatsApp group together with 18 members joining.
One man Patrick Bradford, who is an avid watch collector from Perth, said he transferred Mr Tilman more than $158,000 over three months and “never received anything”.
He reported the matter to police, but was told it was a “civil matter”.
“I had a lawyer perform an assets search and he has nothing, so going after him legally isn’t an option, unfortunately, there’s nothing nobody claimed they could do,” he said.
“I have spent all my savings.”
Almost $800k owed
Watches R Us traded as part of the “Mazal Group” which has since been put in liquidation.
The liquidator’s report, seen by news.com.au, states the company was officially wound up on February 16, 2024.
In the report, Hall Chadwick labels the investigation as “ongoing” as they have failed to receive any response from the director or any former director of the company.
“Based on my investigations and Proofs of Debt (“POD”) submitted by creditors to date, I have calculated preliminary amounts owed to the ordinary unsecured creditors totalling $791,979,” the report states.
“This figure is significantly greater than the figure advised by the Director.”
Speaking to news.com.au last year, the former business partner of Mr Tilman labelled him an “idiot”.
Aaron Polura, 76, was a former director of Mazal Group, which now operates under the name Watches R Us.
Mr Tilman took over the company after Mr Polura said he resigned from the company to start afresh.
“I’m glad it didn’t work out because now with what I’m doing, I have the right people,” he said.
Mr Polura is now the director of a successful luxury watch store Zaeger which operates across Sydney and Melbourne.
“It is a shame, I haven’t spoken to Ian in a long time I have no idea what he’s doing.
“I’m not ashamed because I have done nothing wrong, but it is not good for the industry. People trust us in the industry and all it takes is just one idiot.
“It’s very, very disappointing. But for me, I believe it was a good decision at the time [to walk away].”
A win against WatchesRUs
One of Mr Tilman’s customers managed to get her money back after a lengthy and “traumatic” battle in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year.
Tasmanian woman Marian Ong bought a Rolex from WatchesRUs in 2022 through a friend who was an expert in high-end watches.
After using the Rolex to propose to her fiance, the watch began to make a “clinking sound” with the pair taking the watch to a Rolex service centre.
The centre informed Ms Ong the Rolex was fake.
“I just melted,” she told news.com.au.
“I just thought this is Australia, you can’t sell fake goods.”
Ms Ong contacted Mr Tilman who accused her of swapping out the Rolex for a fake watch.
She said she went to the WatchesRUs office in the CBD to meet with Mr Tilman and an offsider of his.
“I am a small, petite Asian person, and Mr Tilman was sitting across the desk, accusing me of tampering with the watch,” she said.
She took the pair to NCAT, who ordered Mr Tilman to pay Ms Ong back the $23,500 she paid for the watch.
Court documents stated that NCAT ruled in favour of Ms Ong as Mr Tilman gave “inconsistent evidence under oath” and would not say where he got the watch from for “privacy” reasons.
“This is misguided, and not consistent with the level of due diligence which Mr Tilman expected from the applicants,” the order stated.
Last year, news.com.au visited Mr Tilman’s parent’s home in Randwick. His father told news.com.au: “I haven’t spoken to my son in two years” before shutting the door.
The Australian Federal Police said the matter was within the jurisdiction of the state police.
Both Victoria and NSW Police said they were not actively investigating the matter.
Originally published as ‘Driving my Ferrari’: Dodgy watch seller flees to Thailand
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